Premier League boss opens new sporting facilities at school near Kettering

Born and raised in Kettering, Mr Dyche enjoyed a fine career as a professional footballer before moving into management and he is currently in charge of Burnley in the top flight of English football.

He joined members of staff, students and a number of invited guests including Kettering mayor Keli Watts to look around the new sports hall and 4G pitch at the school before cutting the ribbon following speeches from school principal Siobhan Hearne and head of PE Sam Hallett.

Mr Dyche chatted with students on the 4G pitch and was also asked to sign one pupil’s Ise Lodge Youth FC jersey, the club the Burnley boss played for when growing up in Kettering.

And he was impressed with the £2.6m dual project at the school, which has been mainly funded by Northamptonshire County Council along with a significant contribution from Kettering Council.

He said: “I grew up in Kettering and went to what was then Henry Gotch School and played here at Latimer many times.

“The pitches look the same but obviously the great 4G pitch and the sports hall were a figment of most people’s imaginations back then.

“It’s fantastic to see schools like this developing all the time, particularly in the sports arena.”

The project to improve the school’s sporting facilities has been a long process.

Principal Ms Hearne added: “It’s an incredibly proud day.

“We have been waiting for around 10 years for this sports hall for our students and we are just delighted that we have been able to hand it over to them.

“I was amazed at how big the sports hall was, I think some of our Year 7 students are going to get lost in there!

“They are significantly enhanced facilities in comparison to what we had and that’s going to enable us to deliver more sports to our students and enable us to develop their expertise in those sports. It’s quite overwhelming.

“As an avid football fan myself, I am absolutely delighted the Sean Dyche came along to open these facilities.

“He is locally based originally, which is really important for our community and also really inspiring for our students to see someone from their own area who has been so successful. They have been thrilled by it.”